Weekend Freewrite - Thwarted Plans
A weekend freewrite consists of three separate prompts, each delivered by the fabulous @mariannewest in three separate posts. You read the first prompt, set your timer for five minutes, and start writing. When the five minutes are up, you look at the second prompt and use it to continue your story for another five minutes. Repeat the process for the third prompt. Sometimes the prompts will fit nicely into your story, and sometimes you will find yourself thinking, "What am I supposed to do with this?" In my story below, the three prompts are in italics. If you would like to give it a try, the first prompt can be found here.
"You don't have many options," Oliver said. "You already paid the registration fee for 12... Reggie sighed and rolled his eyes. "I know, I know, but how was I to know everyone was going to get sick all at once? We were really looking forward to this conference, and now Sally and I are the only ones who can actually make it. No refunds at all?" Oliver shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. You can transfer the registration fees to other people, but good luck finding ten more people who want to attend a weekend conference about the mating rituals of prairie dogs. Not too many folks are going to be interested. You can try, though." Reggie nodded and walked away slowly. All of his college classmates in the biology department were sick, and now he'd have to try to find other people to fill their spots. How did one go about something like that? He could put an ad on Facebook, and in the daily campus newspaper, and maybe he could even get the local radio station to say something. He had connections there, come to think of it.
He threw her a nod. "I think my wrist is broken." Sally had stopped by Reggie's apartment to find out how progress was going in the search for conference attendees. She had found him sitting on his kitchen floor, holding his left wrist with his right hand. A nearby stool was positioned under a light fixture, and broken glass was scattered around the floor. "Ill take you to the E. R.," Sally offered. "This is most unfortunate, but you can still attend the conference with a broken wrist. I'll drive." She helped him get to his feet and out to her car. They were silent all the way across town to the hospital. Why did trouble seem to come all at once? There was the inevitably-long wait in the E.R. once the initial paperwork was filled out. Plenty of other patients were waiting, too. Three of them seemed to have the same bug as the biology students; they were coughing and endlessly blowing their noses and looked miserable. Someone had an ice pack on his foot, and another fellow was using a rag to keep pressure on his hand, but blood was seeping out, anyway.
A filled in crossword was in the newspaper lying on the table near Reggie's chair in the waiting room. He and Sally read the comics, anyway, and then three issues of People magazine, before Reggie's name was called. Leaving Sally in the waiting room, he followed the nurse through the doors into the exam area. X-rays were ordered, and a few blood tests. Reggie waited another half hour for the results. "Yes, you've broken your wrist," announced the nurse quite cheerfully. "We can get that set and the cast on right away. I hope you didn't have any big plans for playing baseball or doing gymnastics this spring." "No," Reggie replied, "I'm not into sports. I am a biology student, and my only big plan is to attend a conference about the mating habits of prairie dogs. I have ten extra spots available with the registration fee already paid. Know anyone who might want to go?" The nurse stared at him for a moment, and then said, "Actually, I have several friends who are teachers, and that might be an opportunity for them to get continuing education credits. I'll ask around. May I have your phone number?"
The timer just went off, so my five minutes are up. Too bad, because this tale was about to take a really dark turn. Maybe next time....
A conference on the mating habits of prairie dogs sounds just fabulous. I would go! LOL
Ha ha ha! I would almost be interested, myself!